The following morning, I got together with Ivy and Katya since we are going to be heading to the nearest guild hall of the League of Adventurers. On foot it would take about 30 minutes, so it is not that far. The hope is we encounter some more fat cows… I mean, wealthy bandits along the way. Saphire was sad to see us leave, but we promised to be back later.
As we went northeast to the town of Allenshire, nothing, not even a monster halted our path, so disappointing. Anyhow, once in the town the guild house can be found not that far away from the little bazaar in the center of town. Stepping through the saloon style double doors, all eyes were on us. There was a mixture of different faces, but none of them showed fear, good! That is how adventurers should be. Walking to the receptionist's counter, a masculine voice called out,
"Well, looky here! The next generation of thrill seekers have appeared! What can I do for ya today?"
The ripped receptionist said. The man looked like he eats Dwarven alloy ingots for breakfast. Yeah, no delicate person would even dream of being a worker with the League since even receptionists had to take on quests; S class quests to be exact.
"We wanna take the entrance exam!"
I said, fired up and ready to meet any challenge. Ivy and Katya also were ready to go. Funny thing though, although Katya was sitting on Prototype Geoff's shoulders like a small child, her magoi was flowing out like a raging fire.
Ivy even whipped out her scorpion whip ready to kill the next person who so much as coughed. Meanwhile I stood calmly with a dark fog emanating from my armor. Despite being at the youthful age of 10 sols for both Katya and I while excluding Ivy's age (since she's ancient), all 3 of us looked like we just came back from a brutal hunt and wanted more!
"Hahaha! I love yer attitude, young'un! If only some of our vets had this much zeal in their eyes! Okay follow me."
Grabbing a key from the wall, the receptionist walked towards a hallway leading downwards to what I believe is an arena. We followed closely behind. Thereafter, the hall full of adventurers stirred as they followed us ready to see a good show.
Unlike the novels from Earth, the League has new applicants fight recently captured monsters. Each monster is rated with the same class rating for missions. the lowest being F and the greatest being SSS.
Now, B class and up monsters are hard to find and even harder to capture alive without wounds or the like. Therefore, most guilds keep up to C class monsters. Those who are aiming for the higher tiers need to complete specific League requirements.
Once in the arena chamber, one would see a small table with forms and an obelisk on top of it off to the left of the entrance. Here we would fill out a form with our demographic and affiliations if we are connected to other organizations, and lastly are Combat class. Ivy is a rogue, Katya an Alchemic Summoner, and me an Arcane Warrior.
Next, we had our elemental affinity tested by using the obelisk next the the table. This obelisk has a clear neutral magoi crystal in the shape of an orb floating above it; an affinity stone. The stone does not calculate how great one's affinity is. Instead, it only determines what elements we are aligned to.
Most people on Eliador have the "void constitution" trait, so they can use any element with enough practice. Therefore, when we were tested no one was alarmed by our results save maybe Ivy's as she only had Earth, Light, and Nature affinities which is a rare sight.
"Alright, now that the tedious stuff is done, who wants to go first?"
The receptionist asked. Not waiting long, Katya had Geoff place her down as they walked towards the center of the room. Once there, the gate on the opposite side of the arena opened.
From within, stair 2 pairs of red glowing eyes as they started moving forward while accompanied by bestial yelps. After 20 seconds, 2 monsters came into full view; spiked fiend hounds. As the name implies, these dogs are practically porcupines as they are covered from head to toe in spikes with dark flames wrapping their necks. Although they look menacing, they are in fact F class cannon fodder. Even Saphire whose 6 can kill them.
As expected, Geoff squashed the 2 monsters with its shield in a matter of seconds. Returning to Katya, Goeff stood ready as another 2 monsters appeared. These monsters were E class and still did not pose any threat.
This trend continued all the way until Katya reached the C class monster. Deciding her ranking was good enough, Katya stepped out of the arena before the C class monster was released. She returned without even breaking a sweat since Geoff did the killing… or squashing in this case.
"Wow, little miss! Yer golem there is definitely a Journeyman Tier golem! Why stop there?" the receptionist asked, knowing full well if Katya joined in, she would have definitely been ready to take on the B Ranks task.
"My golem is still a prototype. This was enough of a pressure test." Katya replied as she made note of Geoff's development. After the guild hall's cleanup crew cleared the arena, Ivy walked up and giggled,
"Ladies first, love."
She said looking at me and continued on her way. Much like Katya's fight, Ivy dominated the arena and didn't get even a drop of blood on her. Her control over the scorpion whip was legendary as her whip had come to life almost. Lithe like a snake in its natural element, the scorpion whip pierced skulls and hearts while dismembering limbs all in one stroke, then reverted back into a single blade which decapitated heads in the process.
Ivy's fighting style was elegant and savage all at the same time. Watching her move as if dancing while she reaped the lives of the monsters was quite amazing to behold. Even the on-looking adventurers were intrigued by her combat style.
The most amazing thing was how she would summon a vine from her hands and wrap them around the blade's hilt. Afterwards, she'd throw the blade like a throwing dart. The blade would swiftly pierce through a D class monster's chest and back.
She'd then pulled the vine back, catching the freed blade in the process. After a few minutes of fluid slaughter, the C class monster was about to appear as Ivy too walked out of the arena. Coming back to the group giggling. Ivy grabbed my arm and pulled me forward towards the arena,
"Your turn!"
"Mmm"
I replied while walking to the arena. Not wasting time, I unsheathed my sword and evoked pyrosaber over the blade. After the fight with dad, my control over pyrosaber has reached an all-time high.
The spell now looks exactly like a certain someone's blade. The same someone who killed me in my 2nd life. Additionally, I created a shroud of fire over my head. Even the black fog around my armor changed into black lightless flames. Additionally, black lightless flames erupted along my greaves like flaming spikes awaiting the chance to impale and scorch unlucky victims.
When looking at me from a distance, many of the onlooking adventurers unconsciously whelped out (That's right, bitches!! Fear me!!) With everything in place, I almost appeared to be a SS class monster called Hell Spawned Death Knight!
Once the F class monster gate rose, the monsters took 2 steps out, only to whimper and go back into the cage. Everyone was shocked about the sight. Normally, they charge out but not this time. The same happened with the E class monsters. The D class monster on the other hand looked afraid, but still came out. What stood before me was a familiar creature, a wingless manticore.
Unlike its cousins in the Emeraldshade forest, this one looked scrawny and malnourished. I felt bad for the creature. When it saw me, it slowly walked forward until it was about a meter away then proceeded to bow and submit to its fate. Still feeling pity, I stroked the creature's head, and allowed it to walk back into its cage.
"Not to be rude, but are there any monsters that don't fear death?" I asked the receptionist who had the biggest grin.
"I have just the thing. This monster was caught just this morning and wasn't even harmed during its capture. I can guarantee it will be out for blood!"
Hearing this, I was happy to finally get to fight something. When the far-right gate rose, an angry roar sounded as heavy steps came forward. What appeared before me was a demonic beast of myth, a dragon!
To be exact, a demonic wyvern which is a wingless and unintelligent lesser dragon appeared. These beasts seldom stray far from their nests in volcanic mountains. And yet, this juvenile one dared to face the world.
Recalling my task provided by Uncle Yuriy, I decided to treat this creature as a steppingstone. Not waiting for a response, I evoked the Flaming Javelin spell but mixed with earth, lightning and darkness and fired it at the beast. As the spear approached, I sped closely behind it with my sword at the ready.
The wyvern fired a flurry of firebolts, but they did absolutely nothing to the spear. After 10 seconds of failed flurries, the spear crashed into the beast causing a sizable explosion. Before the dust could clear the mortally wounded beast came charging out for all to see. Half of its face was revealed to be burned flesh; both of its horns were broken. It left foreleg was completely severed, and a deep bloody slash cut from its left shoulder down to its tail.
As the dust cleared, I slowly walked out without a single spot or blemish on me with my pyrosaber by my side. Rage and fear filled the beast's roar as it charged forward. I scoffed at its desire for death while not even taking a stance.
I continued walking towards the near dead beast until it was in my striking range. I then sidestepped and in one graceful movement cleanly decapitated the beast swiftly. The slash was effortlessly performed as I continued walking towards the receptionist and the girls. To be honest. I was expecting more, but I shouldn't have had high hopes since the creature was fucking dumb.
When I reached the group, Ivy hugged me and gave me a very intimate kiss. (I have grown intoxicated by her as she tasted sweet as always.) Katya was clapping her hands after seeing a good show.
The receptionist still had that big grin from before, as if he expected nothing less. As for the rest sitting in the audience section, they were speechless. They seemed to recall how difficult it was to fight demonic wyverns, yet here I was wounding the creature in 15 seconds and killing it in 45 seconds after the battle began.
"Good show, young'un! That's how ya show yer lady yer manliness!" he said after I finished kissing Ivy.
"Alright you lot, the show's over, back into the guild hall! Then again… some of ya have missions to complete. As for you young'uns… follow me to a more secluded location."
Once again, we followed the receptionist until we reached an office on the 2nd floor of the guild. From what I could gather, we are going to me the head honcho now. Well I'm pretty sure there's nothing to worry about, as the Guild is very relaxed with their standards. As long as you can kill monsters, you are welcome to join!!
-End of Chapter